iPhone 5c WIFI Button Grayed Out TRIED ALL SOLUTIONS

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Level 1

5 points

iPhone 5c WIFI Button Grayed Out TRIED ALL SOLUTIONS

As you can see from the title, my wi-fi button is greyed out. I have tried all solutions I have found online, but none have worked.

I have tried the following:

Turning the phone off and on
Force restarting the phone
Resetting network settings
Factory resetting the phone
Overheating the phone with a hair dryer (managed to mess up my screen a bit with that)
Leaving it in the freezer for an hour.
Overheating it THEN putting it in the freezer

None of these solutions have worked. I was about to give up, until about two days (a little more than 48 hours) after turning the phone off, I turned it on and behold the wi-fi button was functional again. I promptly switched my iPhone 5c back into service (as when it stopped working, I switched back to my 4) but upon restarting the phone, the wi-fi was again not working. Fast forward to two months later, I turn the phone on once again to see the wi-fi button working. As it goes though, the button stopped working after I turned off my phone.

While I'm no expert, I'm lead to believe that this is some sort of software issue, as the wi-fi button works perfectly fine when the phone is left powered off for an extended period of time. Also worth note; every person I have found online who has this issue has an iPhone 4s. I have a 5c operating on iOS 8.2. I cant update it on my computer either because iTunes gives me an error message and tells me it can't install the latest update for whatever reason. I don't know if that is truly significant, but it does seem a bit odd. If anyone has any insight, please share it with me,I am desperate and my iPhone 4 is incredibly slow and dysfunctional compared to the 5c.

iPhone 5c, iOS 8.2, wi-fi problem

Posted on Jun 13, 2015 9:11 PM

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Answer 1

Jun 13, 2015 9:23 PM in response to bowmang001

When you reset it to Factory settings, did you set the phone up as a New Phone (as opposed to restoring it from a backup)? If you restored it, then reset it to Factory again, and do not restore it from a backup. See if running on a totally clean phone resolves the issue. If it does, then you should manually "rebuild" your device by downloading your purchases. If that is the resolution, download your purchases selectively and in a controlled process so you will be able to determine if a particular app or other downloaded item is actually causing the issue.

Cheers,

GB

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Answer 2

JimHdk

Level 7

28,898 points

Jun 14, 2015 3:25 AM in response to bowmang001

Try the suggestions here to see if they resolve your problem:

http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1559

If those solutions don't work your iPhone 4s has probably developed a hardware problem. The permanent solution is to get it replaced.

You can search the internet for heating and freezing solutions that might work (at least for a while).

For example, see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj10bz5bI6A

Root cause: On some iPhone 4s devices there may be a flow soldering problem with the WiFi chip. After long periods of WiFi activity such as installing an iOS update (for example, iOS 7 or iOS 8) there may be a connection failure. A work-around to this is the procedure in the youTube video.

A true hardware fix may be found here:

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/How+to+Fix+iPhone+4S+Wi-Fi+Grayed+Out/22167

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Answer 3

bowmang001 Author

Level 1

5 points

Jun 14, 2015 3:36 PM in response to gail from maine

I wasn't entirely sure, so I tried this again. I managed to reset the phone (and actually finally update it to iOS 8.3) but unfortunately the wi-fi button was still gray. It really baffles me that it works after being powered off for a time. I guess I've just gotta be patient and wait it out. Thanks for the suggestion.

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Answer 4

Jun 14, 2015 10:04 PM in response to bowmang001

So when you reset the phone to Factory Settings, you set it up as a new phone (not from a backup)?

Cheers,

GB

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